in which jake and amy never leave the city
Both of them love New York City more than they could ever describe. He's a born and bred New Yorker, and she's a girl from Jersey who made the city her home.
Jake and Amy both love the city too much to ever leave.
They met in the city, they kissed for the first time in the midst of the usual busy sidewalk traffic, they got engaged on a bright sunny day in the middle of the city, so it only made sense that they got married in the city too, a strange hybrid wedding mixing Jake's Jewish background and her Catholic one. It was strange, and shouldn't have worked, but it did, and they partied well into the night with New York City as the backdrop to the best day of their lives.
They bought their first home together in the city. A small, but bright apartment in Brooklyn with a fitted kitchen and a spare bedroom (just in case.)
Moving out of the city and upstate to a quiet suburban town, in a good school district, with a quiet police station was never on the cards. The 99 was home, just as much as the city itself was, and there was never any chance of Jake and Amy having a home outside Brooklyn.
Their first child was born in the city. Elizabeth Peralta was born in the middle of the night, her first cries mixed with the sound of the never ending New York traffic music to Jake's ears as he held her close for the first time, sitting with his back to the city he loved more than words could ever say.
Baby number two was born in New Jersey, but they didn't like to talk about that (okay, it wasn't that big a deal, but it kind of broke the streak). Aiden Peralta was the exception to the 'all big events in Jake and Amy's lives happen in NYC' rule, but something definitely felt right when they brought him home to their Brooklyn apartment - a feeling they definitely didn't get in the quiet hospital in New Jersey where Amy went into labour three weeks early.
The city was the backdrop to the official ceremony where Amy became the youngest Captain to ever serve in the 99. Jake was sitting in the front row, Aiden on his lap, and an excitable Elizabeth struggling against the firm (but loving) grip of her Aunt Rosa, Jake clapping loudly as he beamed up proudly at his wife, his smart, hard working, beautiful wife who was going to be given command of her own unit soon. Cars, and people rushed by outside the building, and life in the city went on as normal as the Peralta family shared one of their proudest moments.
It was a cool New York City morning when they sent Aiden to school for the first time, and a crisp summer one when he graduated top of his class fourteen years later. It rained the day Elizabeth started school, and maybe that should have been a sign, because the excitable toddler grew into an excitable child, and an even more excitable teenager who wanted to explore the city, and never wanted to sit still in class, and learn anything. She was the bane of her teachers lives, and there was fight after fight her entire fourteen years in education - but, she got there, and she graduated on a beautiful summer day, Jake and Amy letting out a sigh of relief as the family left the ceremony to get pizza at their favourite joint in the whole city.
Amy was sitting in a public bathroom in the middle of the city when she found out that baby three was on the way. It was definitely not a part of the plan and she mentally kicked herself for letting it happen, but it happened. Elizabeth was a year away from finishing high school, and Aiden was flourishing in the middle of his sophmore year, and Jake and Amy nearly had two grown ups on their hands when the final addition arrived, a giggling bundle of boy they called Nathan (because Nathan Peralta was kind of a rockstar name..)
Even when their kids all grew up (all except Aiden choosing colleges right in the middle of the city to attend), and they officially retired from the NYPD, after years of dedicated service, Jake and Amy didn't leave the city. They downsized from the beautiful split level apartment they bought when Elizabeth was ten and Amy hit one hell of a pay rise, and moved into an equally as beautiful apartment in their favourite area of Brooklyn, with a little terrace in the back where they could sit, and tell stories about the good old days back in the 99.
Jake loved to wander the city. His favourite past time was getting on the subway, and seeing where it took him. It was fun, and exciting, and even as he hit 60, and 70, and 80, he loved to sit on the subway and see if there was a part of New York City he hadn't found yet. Amy took another approach. She loved to sit in coffee shops, and watch the world go by - watch as twenty somethings in suits rushed by, watch as thirty somethings fell in love over coffee in the mornings, watch as the city changed, and grew and got better and bigger right before her eyes.
Jake and Amy loved New York City too much to ever leave - so they never did.